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26. Switch 2 Announced + Xbox Developer Direct thoughts! | Games Over Plastic
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In this episode we discuss the games we are playing, Our thoughts of the Switch 2, and finally the Xbox Developer Direct 2025. We break down each game and give our overall thoughts.
Please enjoy!
video version at: http://www.youtube.com@gamesoverplastic
00:00:00- Show Start
00:03:30- Ys X
00:13:35- Octopath Traveler II
00:15:30- Mafia Definitive Edition
00:19:00- Batman: Arkham City
00:28:40- Indiana Jones
00:31:45- Marvel Rivals
00:32:30- Switch 2 Thoughts
00:47:30- Xbox Direct
00:50:22- Ninja Gaiden 4
00:55:20- Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
00:56:48- South of Midnight
01:02:40- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
01:11:40- Doom The Dark Ages
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Transcript
Introduction and Weekly Highlights
00:00:29
Speaker
Yo, welcome everybody to Games Over Plastic. This is episode number 26. I am Midnight, as always, joined by the two best co-hosts in the industry. We have the man, the myth, the legend, the man who has been doing basketball games all week long, but now he's ready to relax, Sean Mason. How you doing, sir?
00:00:53
Speaker
Good, I just yeah, I was just getting getting just telling you guys it's the first day I've gone home this week. It's gotten home before 7 o'clock. Yeah, it's been been a week. We've had a lot of basketball games. We got our butt kicked in two of them. We won one of them. um But it's a rebuilding year, so you know it's for the kids. I'm liking it. The kids are enjoying it. I have a lot of freshmen and sophomore on the team, so it's good.
00:01:16
Speaker
Heck yeah. And last but not least, we have ah the Indian Live Service gaming maestro, the man with the new background and new camera and everything is looking really good. Hodge, how are we doing, sir? I'm good. I i appreciate everyone ah changing this recording time for me. My dad's birthday is tomorrow and I'm driving home to see him. so That's normally when we record. So we're recording Friday night instead. So when the Xbox or PlayStation 6 gets revealed tomorrow, we're going to miss that news. So we're not going able to record about it. So the invoices in the mail for you, go the invoices in the mail. Good. it It's going to go straight to but the trash can. So. All right. Perfect. Right on. and Happy birthday. Hodge's father. Yes. I hope he has a great day. um Big six four.
00:02:08
Speaker
Next time we'll have to plan a little better not to interrupt to our recordings, but that's okay. We, uh, we worked around it. We worked on Derek's birthday land on a Saturday this year. Yeah, it's crazy. You know, it's like a one in seven chance almost. and know um
Podcast Availability and Listener Engagement
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. So anyways, this is games over plastic, the podcast for the agnostic gamers. If you're listening to us on YouTube but at youtube dot.com slash at games over plastic with all the fancy graphics and stuff, know that this podcast is also available on audio platforms everywhere. as Spotify, Apple podcast, overcast, pocket cast.
00:02:42
Speaker
every cast. You can find us. Just look. um Leave us five star ratings on audio services. Leave us likes and comments. Subscribe to the YouTube channel if you're enjoying what we're doing and if you want to support this show. um We don't make any money on this. We do it for the love. and We would appreciate your support so we can eventually grow.
00:03:00
Speaker
um But yeah, thank you guys for tuning in. um We are, as always, going to be doing write-ins most weeks. So if you have a write-in, type a comment down below what your question is and we may answer your question on a future episode like we're going to do in this episode.
Deep Dive into East 10
00:03:17
Speaker
Let's go ahead and get started as we like to do with what we are playing. um Let me see here, what order do we want to go this time, huh?
00:03:27
Speaker
Let's go with let's start with Sean we're gonna have Sean go first with what you're playing because I know you had an addendum I think from last week um what what do youve what you've been up to sir, so I've only been able to play one game in the entire last two weeks and that's East 10 and I have to say I this game is really grown on me I know last week I had said you know I'm not really feeling it but then I'd only played a few hours I'm 25 hours into this game and I am absolutely loving it it is the it is quickly become one of my favorite East games and I think a lot of that has to do with the openings a little slow of the game
00:04:03
Speaker
but after you get the opening done the world really opens up and you you get like basically a pirate not a pirate ship you get like a ship and there's a lot of it's like pretty much open world you can go to different islands discover different things you can run into other enemies on ships and fight them there's ship combat which i'm not the biggest fan of ship combat usually in games but this isn't too bad it's not like overwhelming and there are certain encounters where you have to board an enemy ship and go on and like you know defeat their uh the enemies. And I find that the story has really picked up and that um Karja, who's like the female protagonist, has really grown on me a lot. She as I predict her. Yep. Yes, you did. You're right. Okay. Unlike the Steelers prediction you made. um Yeah. no But yeah, Karja has really grown on me. She is. She's a really interesting backstory. She comes from a family of Normans they're called.
00:04:58
Speaker
um And in her, basically her life, her father is like the lead Norman of like the um entire tribe, basically. But so she didn't really grow up with like a fatherly figure who was always there for her. So she had to learn a lot of things on her own. And she's kind of growing up during this journey, kind of learning how to be not just like an unfriendly person, basically. It's it's pretty good. I like it. I like Adil, who's the main character. He's the main character in all the games. The only thing I don't like is the thing I don't like about these games is that he's like a silent protagonist, but like at sometimes he talks, but not always. So a lot of it is you just pick the dialogue option, but then it doesn't even show it in like like a like a text box. It just kind of like assumes that like the players are the other players hear it.
00:05:44
Speaker
ah But the combat's really fun. I'm really digging the combat. It is much more Souls-like as you go. um Some of the bosses are ridiculously hard. um The parrying system's awesome in the game. It's so different than any other use game combat was. ah They have this they this ah mode called Duo Mode and that's just you and Karja are teamed up and like you have to time your blocks by hitting like the R2 button or whatever.
00:06:07
Speaker
like the right trigger button, whatever you're playing on. um And that essentially blocks the enemy attack, but then it like builds up this like, um powerful bar where if you get to a times two your attacks do a little bit more damage. It's pretty cool. They have a really good upgrade system called the release system and you have to find like it's very similar to the um if you're familiar I know for the audience if you're familiar with Final Fantasy 10 the sphere grid system in Final Fantasy 10 is really familiar to that and you can basically customize your character the way you want.
00:06:39
Speaker
Um, one of the really cool aspects, um, of the game to story wise, that you're fighting these things, these enemies that are called a greager, like they're called a greager. And there's these like, they're just like these crazy creatures. And basically, there's these half human greagers who are like, kind of like the leaders of all of them. And they can essentially turn like regular humans into these crazy creature griegers who are these giant things who are running around the world and they're super powerful and you as Adil have this power that once you defeat them you can purify them and they come back to like your you know human self and uh
00:07:15
Speaker
You know, unsurprisingly, these ones that you, the the ones that you purify end up being like some of your companions that you are like already known and they end up joining your party and they like they they help out in the ship and they all have like a different role in the ship. ah One can provide upgrades for the ship, one's like a doctor, he can heal you.
00:07:32
Speaker
um It's really you know overall. I'm enjoying the story 25 hours, and I'm getting close to the end of the game for like the main story But I'm definitely gonna try to hundred percent everything there's like quests and side quests you have a little fishing game, too ah You know what's an nis game without fishing as all the trails fans know fishing is really easy in this game though compared to trails Hmm, but yeah overall. It's it's a delightful game um Like I said it's growing on me. It's it's it's right there. It's probably gonna be my I wouldn't put it ahead of seven or eight yeast, but it's definitely a ahead of nine for me. So I'm liking it a lot. And it's a younger adult. He's only 17. So it's, uh, you know, earlier in the timeline of the games. Right on, right on. What, what? I just, it's just every single time Sean talks about a game, he's like, yeah, it's the 14th in the series and it's 500 hours long.
00:08:30
Speaker
It just makes me laugh that I feel like Octopath is the only series that's not like 10 games deep right now that you play. yeah sorry it's just the ye You know what's even crazier? You know what's even more confusing about these yeast games though? Is that they don't go in chronological order. So yeast 10 actually comes after yeast 2. And it comes like, it comes way before yeast 7, 8, 9. Like it's so confusing how they do it. But it's all but it's all the same like world.
00:08:56
Speaker
It's the same world and you can play them basically in any order because they're standalone stories. They do make like references like Yeast 2, I mean, Yeast 10, the one I'm playing now, if you play like Yeast, I can't remember what 7, I can't remember what 7 or 8, but they make a reference back to like, oh, remember when you were, you know, 17 and you were sailing the oceans on a ship? Because like the ship combat's like new for this game, it's not on the other ones. And now like you're playing Yeast 10 and you're sailing the seas.
Game Reviews: Octopath Traveler 2 to Batman Arkham City
00:09:24
Speaker
So they all take place in the same world and they do make little references, but they're like the cast usually changes every game except for Adil. He's usually the one consistent character. And then use origins, which is like that takes place 400 years before any of the games. Those are all like brand new characters. And it basically sets up the world. Hmm. Right on. Right on, Sean. So East 10 Nordics, a better pirate game than Skull and Bones, it sounds like.
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, and that's discrete for black flag. Whoa, shots fired there. Well, you're not actually pirates. You're just kind of, you know, you're on a ship. But you can attack and board other ships. So yes, I have more Irish ish.
00:10:07
Speaker
I have more kinder look at Assassin's Creed than Sean does, but I hated the pirate combat in those games so much. And so when they're like, we we're like skull and bones, which is based off the pirate parts of Assassin's Creed. I'm like, oh, my least favorite part. Can't wait to never play that game.
00:10:24
Speaker
Colin Bones, everyone's favorite game. Damn, dude. People, Assassin's Creed fans are in shambles listening to this here, like Sea Hawk. Earlier today, I said to Sea Hawk. I love that. I said today, if shadows couldn't get me, make me interested in Assassin's Creed game, nothing blew. I played Black Flag. I didn't beat it. I played it pretty far and I dropped it and I have no idea why. I actually really liked it. I just hated the pirate part.
00:10:51
Speaker
I enjoyed the combat combat. I can't do the ship combat. I don't like it. But the rest of the game, like I loved my favorite is either that one or origins. I haven't decided. But hodge we know what game is the best ship combat and that's Kingdom Hearts 3. Come on. Yeah, I got to need to replay it.
00:11:08
Speaker
All right, so East 10. Good stuff, Sean. I also intend to play this one day, but I'm going to start with East eight will be my first game in that series. I would suggest. Yeah, I would suggest seven or eight to start with. It's going to be eight. I already own it and I've heard it's great. So that's what I'm going to do. The one that just came out was memoir or whatever is that I know it's like a remake, but which one's it a remake of?
00:11:31
Speaker
I say, no, it's not the first one. It is a remake of. Hang on. I cannot remember exactly. I've not played the original of it, so. Hmm. Because I've only played seven, eight, nine and 10 in Origins now. So, Sean, why did you decide that you wanted to play East 10 right now? I'm curious ah because Daybreak comes out on the 14th of February and I wanted to play a JRPG before then. OK. I'm personally, I'm going to be waiting because of the I'm sure you heard about the proud Nordics. They're coming out with the the super version, kind of like Atlas did. So I'm going to wait for that. Also, I need to play eight first anyway, so I couldn't wait. I mean, you don't need to play first. You technically don't need to play. I mean, it comes later in the series. So yeah, but I don't I already own aid and it's supposed to be the best game in the franchise. So why not start there?
00:12:24
Speaker
That's true. Yeah, why not? So all right. So that's what Sean has been playing. Good stuff. Good stuff. um And I will also I will defend one more time. I'll defend Assassin's Creed. Awesome franchise. Love it. And the pirate combat in Black Flag was very fun. I enjoyed it.
00:12:40
Speaker
um I'm looking forward to the Black Flag remake so I can go back and actually replay it and finish it this time. um Because I didn't finish it the first time. I got really far. I had a powerful ship. I was fighting like the boss ships out in the middle of the ocean or whatever. um I don't remember why I quit though, but I did. Probably got distracted with Call of Duty or some bullshit.
00:12:59
Speaker
yeah But anyway, that's usually why I fall off games. I just get distracted with another one. Yeah. All right. Let me go ahead and get into what I've been playing now. And I have been a busy boy. I have been a busy little beaver like Bucky. Shout out to Bucky. I wish I had some beaver nuggets, man. I need to get some. Oh, I would I would kill for some beaver nuggets. So.
00:13:19
Speaker
I never never let anybody lie to you and say that Midnight doesn't beat games because Midnight beats fucking games. I have beaten three games since last time we spoke. Three games. I finished Octopath 2, Octopath Traveler 2 from Square Enix, the weeb JRPG with the HD 2D pixel art. This game was absolutely phenomenal.
00:13:43
Speaker
um I will not go into much detail here, though, because we are going to be doing a spoiler cast. Sean and I are going to get together and we're going to be doing an Octopath Traveler 2 spoiler cast in which we're going to get in depth how great the game is, the story, our favorite characters and all that stuff. If you're interested to know what myself and Sean think of this game, tune into the spoiler cast, which will probably be the next episode that we come out with the DLC.
00:14:09
Speaker
um Even if you haven't beaten Octopath 2, you can still tune into that if you want because the opening portion will be spoiler free. you So you can still hear like what we thought at at a high level. And then when we get in the spoilers, we'll tell you and you can dip out. um But I'll just say now, I don't want to completely blue balls you guys. I'll just say now that I did like the game, it was a great game. Octopath 2, awesome. Spoiler cast to come. um Any comments on this? Probably not. Hodge, you'll never play this, will you?
00:14:36
Speaker
No, I think I've said it on here before, but if not, I tried the demo for the first one when it was on switch, like however many years ago that was five years ago or whatever. It's been even long longer um and eight years. Yeah, I i loved i because I played it purely because of the look of this game because it is a stunning game. I haven't obviously played the second one, so I'm sure it looks even better. but I just didn't like the combat. It i just didn't grab me. So I just never got to it. So I just knew I would never get to Octopath 2 either. But it's i'm it's definitely not a game I would ever hate on. It's just it's not for me. So but but it is awesome and I'm happy you enjoyed it. And I know it's one of Sean's favorites of all time. So yeah, I'm happy you happy you had fun with it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yes, sir. So more to come on that. Please look forward to it as the Japanese love to say. The next game that I played, I was busy. Like I said, I played Mafia Definitive Edition on the PlayStation 5. Shout out to PlayStation Plus subscription. Got it on there for free. With the post fingers. I on Game Pass 2 for those who are on Xbox. It is on Game Pass as well. It was a yeah. Yeah, it's definitely on Game Pass.
00:15:51
Speaker
So, but anyway, Mafia Definitive Edition. This is, of course, the first Mafia game I played and beat it. um This was a great game. I very much enjoyed it. Awesome story. Really, really, really, really good. You know, Mafia story ah similar to, you know, many movies that you might have seen like The Godfather and Goodfellas and stuff. It has those same vibes, um some twists and some turns, some backstabbings.
00:16:15
Speaker
Um, things like that. Um, ultimately not a super happy ending for anyone, but it was, it was very good and very well told. Um, and I am looking forward to playing the next mafia game, which I will get to later this year. Um, I have the mafia to definitive edition, which is also on PlayStation plus. So shout out to Sony holding it down, saving me a little bit of money with my subscription there.
00:16:37
Speaker
um But yeah, it was great. I mean the the the story was absolutely phenomenal like 9.8 out of 10 style story um The graphics were phenomenal like they did a great job with this remake like it's high-end graphics um It was really cool with the 1930s cars and music and the city and stuff. um It is very linear and This is not an open world game, despite the fact that it takes place in an open world. It is very much mission to mission. You're just going from point to point. um It's not like a GTA game where like you travel the open map and then you go somewhere and start the mission. like The next mission automatically starts. right up So one ends, the next one automatically starts. And so you're on rails, kind of. um and You could theoretically go off the rails and drive around, but nothing's really happening because you're in a mission. so
00:17:25
Speaker
um But it's good. I like it. No complaints at all. Mafia Definitive Edition. um If you're a fan of Mafia stuff and you want a short game, um it was only like 10-ish hours or so, I want to say. Oh, really? um Something like that. so Yeah, it wasn't very long. Oh, OK. Because I've been looking at this game. It looks really cool. And obviously, as we've talked about, I love the Godfather game from back in the day. But the fact that it's not open world actually intrigues me a little more because that makes it a little more main mainline to get through it. So.
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't know it was that short. I might get to it sooner than later then. Yeah, 10 and a half hours on ah how long to beat for the main story. And I played about, yeah, about 10 hours. So. I'm really interested in this game. My brother-in-law is a huge fan of the Mafia franchise. And he's been telling me to play it for, like, years now. And I do want to get to sun heat this. is his This is Mafia, the definitive edition of like Mafia 1 is one of his favorite games of all time. I heard the story is incredible. Wow.
00:18:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's a really good story. um And yeah, it's like they created a full sandbox open world, but it's not really it's not really utilized in an open world way. um It's more like just the missions take place in them. Like you'll do a lot of driving from point A to point B. And you might do a little driving to escape the cops, but you're mostly on rails. It's like you know where you're going um and yeah and what you have to do and it's not super long. So yeah, I think you guys could definitely get into this. And it is free, which is a plus on both platforms. So um So that's what I've been playing there. Any other thoughts on that before I move on?
00:18:57
Speaker
All right. um Last but not least, this is the one that there's been a little bit of drama about and people I think are somewhat interested, maybe not, about what I think of this. I've been playing Batman Arkham City. um baers Banger. This was on my list of games from our resolutions, I think. um I said that I would play this and I have. I beat the game today.
00:19:23
Speaker
I beat the game today, rolled the credits. Um, I was saying in the discord that I wasn't really feeling this game. Um, this game was kind of mid. I was saying it was a seven out of 10. I'm not a big fan of comic books stuff. Really? I've kind of burned out on that.
00:19:39
Speaker
um Harley Quinn and Joker super over the top and kind of cringy, especially in the start. It was kind of abrasive going from like mafia, which is like gritty, realistic kind of to that where they're like, and you know, all crazy, kind of childish. um But let me just say that I beat the game. And I've come around on it um now that I've beaten the game. This is not a bad game.
00:20:03
Speaker
This is not even a mid game. This is a good game. um If I had to score it, I'm gonna say it's an eight, maybe an 8.3 out of 10. I did enjoy it. I thought the story was really good. The story was awesome. I really liked the story. um The combat was decent. um It wasn't amazing, but it was decent. I know at the time, the combat was really amazing and revolutionary with the, what do they call it? Like the true motion or free float.
00:20:29
Speaker
Free flow I can't talk. Free throw. Yeah, free throw. um It was very revolutionary. But these days, it's not as. But no, it's fun. It's good. The things that I didn't like about it, like I said, is some of the performances, especially at the very start, are like way over the top and kind of kiddish cringe-like. But I think I settled into that vibe and the mood. um And it didn't bother me at all towards the end. In fact, I even enjoyed it. um The story was awesome.
00:20:58
Speaker
Combat was fun. The city was pretty big and expansive with stuff you can do. um At times it was it did feel like a big maze trying to figure out exactly where you're supposed to go and what you're supposed to do, um which was a little bit annoying, but I figured it out.
00:21:11
Speaker
um Ultimately, I thought that I would just play this game and just mainline the story and not even touch the side quests and then just move on. But I actually enjoyed the game so much. um I'm going to, I'm not done with it. I haven't uninstalled it. I'm tonight probably, or tomorrow, I'm going to actually go finish the side quests. So I beat the game. The ending was awesome. There's a big death at the end, which I'm sure it won't be a permanent death somehow, but someone key died at the end, which was pretty cool, pretty interesting.
00:21:41
Speaker
And then I took over Catwoman. And as this is a side thing. This was post credits. I took over Catwoman, got her treasure back, and defeated a boss. So that was cool. Got that trophy. um And now I'm back on Batman again. And I'm going to clean up some of these side missions. I'm going to save somebody's wife. I'm going to help Bane take out some stuff. So I'm enjoying it. All in all, this is not a bad game. And I like it. So it won me over. What do you guys think?
00:22:09
Speaker
Dude, Arkham City is freaking amazing. I freaking love this game. And it's not even my favorite Arkham game, but I still freaking love it. I remember when I got this game, I got it right beginning of December 2011, and we had a snow day from school, and I remember just playing it all day.
00:22:27
Speaker
and just Beating the main lining the story beating that and just going back and doing all the side missions again all the Riddler trophies I frickin love this um I Think that the combat is awesome. I love the free fill combat I think it's so cool when you like know how to use all the different gadgets and do all use all the different moves It's so satisfying to just beat up these thugs. I doubt the performance from Joker and Harley Quinn is awesome, too um and And the Riddler performance, I really like the, I love the Riddler in that Arkham universe right now. Like I think it's, I think he does a great job and I love getting all the Riddler trophies. I think it's fun. I think it's a great different, like so many different puzzles. I love it. No, I'm the, I'm the exact same as you. I, I'm, I, it's one of those things I don't ever think about. Like when someone asked like, what do I like in games? But I love collectathons. Like I genuinely love doing that. Like going around it.
00:23:18
Speaker
There are games where it's and there are there's an exception like Breath of Wild. I can't do all the fucking seeds. You have to have the
Gameplay Mechanics: Arkham City Exploration
00:23:23
Speaker
Korok seeds. There's what 900 of them or something. And i then the first Assassin's Creed, there was like flags you had to collect. And I hate crap like that, but the Riddler trophies, it's fun because every single one is its own little puzzle and stuff. So yeah, I love that. I got to ask you though, Midnight, did you pay respects to your parents in the alleyway?
00:23:45
Speaker
I don't think so. Maybe. Oh, there's there's some place on the map where if you go, you see the the like the police outline of your parents bodies in the alley and you can like pay your respects to it. It's a weird, weird little thing. But honestly, if I if I'm remembering right, the side missions were some of my favorite part of that game. Like if fire the Hush side mission is freaking awesome. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, dude. Hush side mission.
00:24:11
Speaker
He's a he's a villain. He has like bandages on his face. He's I don't know who the fuck hush is like. He's like I said, this isn't my thing. I'm not a comic guy. Nineteen ninety three. graph Yeah, it's ah it's a really good. But yeah, I remember loving the side missions and stuff. It's not a slog to do so like some games when you're doing the side missions like I just want to be done with this. But it's one of those where everyone has i its own really cool story. So you'll you'll have some fun with it for sure.
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah, I know that there's a few that I definitely am going to do. like You're working with Bain to destroy like the toxin or whatever. So I only have one more to destroy. So I'm going to do that. And then whatever comes of that, we'll see. um And then there's another one where you have to rescue a wife um that the Joker kidnapped. um if you know Someone's wife. So I'm going to do that. and Got to get her back. And then I think that's about it. Because the other ones are like, I don't really care about. There's like, oh, rescue this medical team. I don't care. They can die.
00:25:04
Speaker
um You know what I mean? I'm doing all the big story ones with the villains, though, so. And shout out to the Zaz missions with the you have to go to the phone calls, random pay phones. Yeah, those are freaking awesome. Oh, those are good. Should I do that one, too? Yes, yes. OK, I'll do that Victor. Victor Zaz is awesome. I was actually kind of hoping spoiler alert. No, the kind of spoiler. There's a character in the Penguin TV show named Victor, and I was really hoping that he would somehow become Victor Zaz. But he wasn't. But yeah, that.
00:25:35
Speaker
He is such a cool villain. I honestly he would work really well in like the Batman movies because he's just a serial killer with a bunch of scars on his face and all over his body because he cuts ah every time he kills someone, he cuts a like a hash mark into his body. So he's just covered in hash marks all over his body because he's murdered so many people. And he's he's such a cool character. So yeah, and he's awesome.
00:25:56
Speaker
Yeah, do they enjoyed it? Yeah, towards the end of ah the game, light spoilers here, not really, but
Game Reviews: Indiana Jones to Marvel Rivals
00:26:02
Speaker
kind of. um I found Harley Quinn tied up um and I don't know why I don't. They didn't really explain why she was tied up or if they ever play that off. They explain why. Why? I don't remember.
00:26:14
Speaker
It's something with I don't want to spoil it for everyone, but they explain why I'll tell you I'll tell you I'm right in the mess All right, tell me afterwards Yeah, cuz I mean she was tied up to a post and like I took the the mask off her face or whatever But I don't know what she did cuz she stole the well, I don't want to spoil stuff. Anyway, we'll keep it moving It was good. It was a good game. It's not mid. Like I said, 8.2, 8.3 out of 10. That's my score. That's right. That's like an 82, 83. That's a good score. um I did like it. And I will play probably Arkham Knight as well some point yeah later this year or next year. Probably this year, though. We'll see. I'm curious as to what you thought of that one will be. I don't think he's going to like it. Why not? Because how you started off with Arkham City, I don't think you're going to like it.
00:27:01
Speaker
Well, I don't like puzzles and not knowing where I'm supposed to go. Oh, fuck. I love Arkham. Arkham City is my favorite one, but. it's just art Well, Arkham Knight, the the the very split thing is the Batmobile. so you Either you hate it or you love it. I didn't hate it. I just didn't like how much you had to use it. so that's kind of yeah i mean I don't think you have to use it that much. I think if you overly use it when you don't have to use it, it feels like you have to you're using it like all the time. but like I never used it to drive around. I only used it when I had to.
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah. And the story for Arkham Knight is nowhere near as good as Arkham City. But it's it's still it's still it's still a very good game. But I think some of the side quests are pretty awesome in our Arkham City. Is Arkham Knight? I can't remember. Which one is the one with the Mad Hatter side missions? That's Arkham Knight. That's Arkham Knight. OK. Yeah. I remember looking. I remember loving those ones. So yeah. Yeah. That's awesome.
00:27:58
Speaker
All right, so that's Batman Arkham City. um Hopefully everybody, you know, puts down the pitch for us. I was catching a lot of smoke um for saying that I thought the game was just like a seven out of 10. People were really upset at me about that. I was creating memes about me saying that I can't play games that aren't 100 hours. um But I think let let the history prove that's false because I beat yeah I beat Kena and loved it. I beat Mafia Definitive Edition and loved it. And now I've beat my ah Batman and liked it a lot. So that should dispel the narrative that I only play hundred hours and david rp i giving you shit Let's go ahead and move on now to hodge you are last but not least what have you been playing my friend? yeah
00:28:42
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm ah trying to get my way through indie. Not that I'm like, I didn't mean that to sound like it's a slog. It's just I'm trying to get through it because i've i've had I have like five games I've been just kind of quickly shuffling between and I need to get some of these off my plate. So I've been really pushing through indie. um I was loving it. I really enjoy the gameplay and just kind of the going around the map and finding stuff.
00:29:06
Speaker
But there was a plot point, I'm obviously not going to spoil it here, that made me so fucking angry that it almost made me turn off the game and walk away from it. I if i will say, if you like at all the indie four and five the movies, you won't hate it. But I fucking hate those movies. And so I hated what happened in the plot. I'm still gonna see it through obviously. Don't tell me it showed up. It's no and no aliens. Thank God. But um yeah, the kingdom of the crystal nutsack and dialogue dysentery are two of the worst fucking movies I've ever seen in my life. So
00:29:43
Speaker
but some people like them for some reason so if you like those movies you'll probably you won't mind it but i hated this moment so goddamn much that i am but i think i'm almost done with the game so i'm just gonna power through finish it this weekend and whatnot but it Oh, it angered me so much, but the game itself is still very fun. I've seen machine games game plays awesome and I'm enjoying it all for that. Troy Baker is still great as a, you know, Indian everything. So, but just the plot, it almost killed the game for me. So, but it's still, it's even, even with the plot point, I would still at worst give it like a seven out of 10 because I still really enjoy it. It's just so much, but yeah, that's all I have to really say about that. I don't know if you guys have anything to say about India. I know neither of you have played it yet, but
00:30:27
Speaker
Haven't played it. Maybe if you beat the game, if you can find someone else who's interested, if you want to, you could do a spoiler cast, but only if you want to. Yeah, it's possible. I was thinking about that. Or if once it comes to PlayStation, if Sean plays it, we can play it next year. I'm going to play it next year. Yeah, so we could probably do it next year. Yeah, I'll probably do it next year.
00:30:45
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I might play it one day, but it's it's just not a high priority. I got all these other games that I want to play a lot like East 8. I want to play that soon. It's one of those games like if you're in love with Dishonored, I say play it as soon as you can, just because it does play like Dishonored in a lot of ways. But other than that, it's yeah, it's I'm not it's definitely not one I'm saying everyone needs to rush out and play. That's for sure. But.
00:31:06
Speaker
ah The other game I've been playing, I i only played it one night with a couple of the guys in our Discord. I played Marvel Rivals, they got me to download it. just they were all They had five people playing, so I was like, eh, I'll be the sixth, so i I downloaded it.
00:31:19
Speaker
and hopped in with it. It's pretty fun. um It's not the greatest game. It's kind of Overwatch Lite, but with a Marvel skin. So it's not the greatest game I've ever played, but it's fun if you're playing with buddies. Not really much to say about that. I was playing as Punisher most of the time because I'm just used to shooters. And so is is is a his gameplay felt most natural to me. so ah But yeah, it's it's a it's an it's a good game. I wouldn't say like it's the greatest thing ever. And the fact that it's free is really cool. So got that going for it. but Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about it. It's just a fun thing to play with some buddies. So yeah, that's all I've been playing. All right. Right on. All right. Well, let's go ahead and just keep it moving, shall
Nintendo Switch 2 Reveal and Reactions
00:32:00
Speaker
we? Let's get into what we have to talk about. um So Nintendo finally revealed the Switch 2. After every company in the world was airing it out, showing it off, they finally came out. They dropped a teaser trailer. They showed us what it looks like. They revealed that it was backwards compatible, which is awesome, of course.
00:32:19
Speaker
um And all in all it just looks pretty sweet. um So let's just go ahead and talk about what were your guys thoughts on the switch to reveal Sean I'm gonna start with you. You love Nintendo. What you think?
00:32:30
Speaker
I'm pretty excited for it. I'm a little disappointed in the name. I don't want i didn't want Switch 2. I wanted like Super Switch. or I wanted like some type of just some type of out something without a number. But um overall, I'm pretty excited for it. I'm more excited just as they show the new Mario Kart. It looks like it's going to be like completely different with the 24 players. and There's some type of like open world. like aspect to what people were thinking because I watched i watched a couple breakdown videos of it and like they have like that someone zoomed in like the Yoshi's diner and there's a place you can like pull out around back and there's like deliberate parking spots and it looks very different than a traditional Mario Kart also um I broke down I watched the video and it broke down like how many characters the characters that are already confirmed for the game and it looks pretty cool I mean they have baby Mario baby Luigi the standard characters but then the redesign of Donkey Kong kind of has me kind of like torn a little bit and They're really doubling down on the movie version of Donkey Kong with Seth Rogen and I really can't stand Seth Rogen's voice. So every time I see that Donkey Kong, I'm going to think of that. So I'm hoping it's just like for Mario Kart or if it's like a skin option where you can like change your ah skin because they had that in Mario Kart 8 with the Yoshis and the Shagas. So I'm hoping that that would be just like a cool thing where you can just toggle it. You know, you can do the rare Donkey Kong from the rare days or the you know movie version of Donkey Kong.
00:33:52
Speaker
But overall, I'm very excited for Switch 2. I can't wait. I'm going to have a lot more to say after the April Direct, where they show off probably a lot more games, probably get a release date, a price. I'm still guessing it's going to be $450. That's my guess. um And I will pay that gladly. Me too. Me too. Hodge, what were your thoughts about the Switch 2, sir?
00:34:17
Speaker
uh my initial thought is it was a trailer that they throw out there saying yes we know you know it exists now shut up and leave us alone until we actually unveil it uh but i did like like you said that they confirmed just straight out like it will play switch games it's a heavy asterisk of not all but i'm guessing it's just stuff where like the couldnt like the Wii sports one or the ring one where you have to like put the controller the controller probably won't fit in it so that's probably like one that's not you know compatible quote unquote so i'm guessing it's stuff like that it's not going to be like Breath of the Wild is not on switch 2 it's not going to be something like that or if it's a licensing issue or something something like that i think that's what it'll be
00:34:58
Speaker
Similar to like what they did with like the Xbox backwards compatibility and like the um, playstation Yeah, you know ps5 was like oh certain games, but it's like it's like four or five games Yeah, but sure all first and second party games will yeah Yeah, exactly which so it's definitely I don't think it's anything to worry about if if they come out with some weird one Like oh, sorry. We just couldn't get this to work. That'd be kind of weird, but I wouldn't be upset but Um, the only real disappointment I had with this trailer is or the reveal in general is I don't like the all gray system I know I actually I like the I like the little accents of the colors but when the nintendo switch was revealed I got stuck with the gray one because it It was so hard to find when it launched and the red and blue looks so much better. The gray was just like the second the OLED came out, I bought one because I wanted that black and white because the gray is just so ugly. And so the fact that they're making it an all gray system with just like the accents really kind of
00:36:00
Speaker
I just don't like it, but obviously I'm not staring at my hand or at the controllers when I'm playing. I'm looking at the screen, which is way bigger. And so ah it's ah it's it's a bummer. It's not OLED, but the the screen looks great. i'm I'm interested in the like the snap on controllers because I feel like if you hold it weird, you're just going to pull them out on accident. like It just doesn't like the sliding click thing makes more sense to me than it's snapping in like that. So um have we'll have to obviously wait and see for that. But I'm excited that I know Midnight's excited that Mario Kart has been confirmed. So you got that on your fantasy. So not confirmed for a release. I mean, that's true. that's I mean, I know.
00:36:41
Speaker
I mean, it's going to be a little it's coming, but I'm going to listen. I'm going to cope. on I'm going to cope now that I'm going to say it's not coming. But I mean, Mario Odyssey wasn't a launch game, and that was at the reveal. So you never know. It was still in the year, though. Yeah, it's coming. It's coming. Yeah, it's it's definitely coming. But overall, I'm obviously excited. The fact that it's backwards compatible, like I said, our head already immediately sold me on it because that means I can play.
00:37:06
Speaker
Like, here's the kingdom. I have not played it yet. and I really want to. So now I'm just waiting for the switch to to play it because I want it to run a little better because I know it ran a little sluggish on the switch. But surprisingly, not as bad you think with how terrible the the inner workings of a switch is. But ah yeah, I'm excited for it. It's it's it's going to be awesome. And as for the price, honestly, anything under five hundred dollars in 2025 is a win. So if it's if it's. good Yeah, if it's 400 450, whatever, I'm I'm I'm excited for it out of the way. So yeah, i'm I'm pumped for this system. I just wish that I mean, who knows, maybe they will have a reveal that there's another color scheme when like they do with the switch. I don't know. But yeah, the name and the color are really the only two things that I'm not that excited about. But yeah, I'm excited to hear more in April about this thing. So
00:37:55
Speaker
Yeah, I would just say to that like just wait for for April because there probably will be a special edition with Mario Kart that they'll show off which will probably be like black and red or something. um historically That's usually what they do black and red for Mario Kart. So that might be cool. If you also if you're really patient if you wait, they'll probably have a Zelda special edition one in like two years. It's like gold with a triforce on it and stuff and they Yeah, I mean they'll they'll definitely have special edition joy cons and systems and stuff like that I'm not where I'm definitely not worried about that but it's just that launch I doubt they'll have a Nintendo I doubt they'd have a Mario Kart one at launch because usually Game specific ones aren't launch game or aren't launch consoles. I feel like it'll just be a switch with the game included in it But I can be wrong. I don't know. I don't know shit. So my dad doesn't work at Nintendo anymore Not since I was in elementary school
00:38:41
Speaker
Yeah, well, in the past they would just, they gave you like black and red. It was the system was black and like the joy cons were red and that was it really. But yeah who knows? I mean, that'd be that'd be cool. But yeah, I don't know. But yeah, I'm excited for it. So I will definitely be purchasing one when it, if I'm, i if I'm able to get one. So yeah. ah Okay. So my thoughts were pretty much the same as you guys. I was really excited. I was happy to see that they didn't pull another Wii U and decide that they weren't going to make it backwards compatible or something stupid. I'm super thrilled that I'm going to pick this up. The Wii U was backwards compatible. The Wii U was backwards compatible. Yeah, but you know what I mean. The Wii U moment is what I'm saying by making an asinine decision.
00:39:19
Speaker
um Because that would have been so dumb to not have backwards compatibility. um And that would have killed my interest. Because you know I want to play these old Switch games that I missed. All right, so let's go ahead. And with that, um i do have we have two questions. One's a write-in, and one's one that I personally was curious about. So we'll start with mine first, because that's what I can do. um Which game do you think you will play first on Switch 2? It could be a backwards compatible game or a launch window game. What are you going to play first? Hodge. What do you think?
00:39:50
Speaker
um I'm guessing, well, I'm going to play a new game first just because I want to see what a new game looks like on a Switch. So probably Mario Kart 9, if that's like the only launch game. I don't know how many they're going to have at launch. ah So that'll probably be the first one that I technically play. But the first one I'm going to want to actually jump into and play all the way through is Tears of the Kingdom, just because I have missed out on that one. ah So I'm definitely going to play that and then probably Echo's a Wisdom, um just because that is one of my ah resolution ones that I really want to play.
00:40:20
Speaker
So that ah so those three kind of cheated with the answer. But technically, the first one will probably market nine. But then I want to play tears of the kingdom as well. So yeah, that's probably that'll probably be for me. Good stuff. Good picks. All right. I'll go next. We got to mix up the orders. So Sean, can you guess what game I want to play? What am I most excited to play about? I wonder if you know me well enough. I've mentioned it before.
00:40:48
Speaker
What Nintendo game cannot wait to play? yeah Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Three Houses. Bingo good job hodge Yeah, fire emblem three houses is the game that I will play first. I can't wait to play that I love fire emblem and I've been missing out since I haven't had a switch So um I will be there day one with fire emblem in hand Sean you beat that game and you loved it We're liked in a lot at least so I'm excited. so How old is fire emblem? Like when did that series start? Oh, it's iron nineteen ninety two It's old. Yeah, okay noises or so child The
00:41:22
Speaker
Whoa, hold on, what is this? Didn't come to America, though, till the early 2000s. Like, Marth and Roy were in Melee before a Fire Emblem came out. Oh, really? Yeah. That's funny. Yeah, funny enough, ah the franchise was almost it. and Like, it was really struggling and dying. And then Fire Emblem Awakening, my favorite,
00:41:43
Speaker
um Came out on the 3ds and really saved and revitalized the franchise um They came out with like some really really cool story and cutscenes and graphics and stuff and then they had like a really nice like persona like Romance type social link system built in and it was just really fun and really good um So yeah, Sean, which game do you think you will play first on switch to?
00:42:07
Speaker
I'm gonna play Hollow Knight Silksong first on Switch 2, because it's gonna be a launch game! Revealed in April! Hollow Knight Silksong coming to Switch 2, day one, book it! It's finally happening. Okay, there you go. I hope for your sake that it does, because that game has been delayed for what, four years now? but Yeah, I actually, they just revealed, they actually just had like a, like a, and the developer came out and said the game is still alive, but honestly,
00:42:33
Speaker
That game has I don't understand what's taking so long. Like, yeah, it's not that complicated looking of a game to make. Like, I don't know. Well, it was playable in 2019. So that game had to have been started. They had to start the whole game over, I would assume. I don't know why. Is that one of your fantasy picks? I don't remember. It was.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really excited about ah Mario Kart 9 being announced and being right about that, because I really think I need Mario Kart 9 if I want to have a chance to win, because I think my picks, looking at it realistically, I don't think my picks are the best. um I had some reaches and some games that I'm not super confident are going to be amazing. So I need Mario Kart 9 to come through and help carry me to victory. um So shout out to that. All right, let's go and get into our write-in here, which is about the Switch 2. Sean, you want to read our write-in today?
00:43:23
Speaker
Of course, I'll read the writing in today. All right, this comes from Parks and Wrecked. Parks and Wrecked, one of our fellow Spank Bank participants.
00:43:34
Speaker
participants What features were you expecting on the Switch 2 that were not there? Example, for me, would be analog triggers. All right, straight into the point there.
00:43:46
Speaker
Yeah. so What do you think, Sean? What do what do you wish? Honestly, i wasn't really I went in with a kind of an open mind. I wasn't really expecting anything, to be honest. Maybe one thing I was expecting would be, one thing I was kind of thinking maybe. like I wasn't like, oh my gosh, this has to happen. But a cord where you plug into the dock, so you can play like a two screen game, similar to like the Wii U, where you can use the gamepad as a second screen.
00:44:13
Speaker
um and then that it would display on the TV. I was thinking about that, but like i I wasn't like, oh my gosh, this has to be here. So like that that was pretty that was pretty good with the Wii U, because when you were playing Zelda, like it could be like your item map and like Mario. You could have your power-ups down there and stuff, which is pretty cool. Ultimately, it's not a make or break situation. That switches so much better than Wii U.
00:44:37
Speaker
Oh, yeah, no doubt. That would be cool for me here. I think it's probably ah the same thing that Hodge is probably about to say. um I knew that this wasn't going to be a thing. We already knew this, but I wish it had an OLED screen. I really do because OLED is amazing um when they do finally come out with a switch to OLED because they will. I'll probably upgrade and buy that because OLED will change your life, people.
00:45:00
Speaker
Get your life together. um But yeah, I mean, honestly, I would say that they pretty much nailed everything that I wanted. We got the system. It's more powerful. um It's somewhere between a PS4 and a PS4 Pro power wise. That's good enough for me. If I can play games in 1080p 60 or close to it, I'm good. Hodge, how about you? Anything that you wish was in there?
00:45:22
Speaker
um honestly they didn't really reveal much of anything so there's anything i don't know if it will or won't be in in in like because i was i was kind of hoping it It's really not about the system itself. It was kind of about the reveal. One, I was hoping for a release date. I didn't i was not expecting a teaser for a teaser. um And then just other games or just to say how other games run, if what would what improves, because really the only thing they showed is there's another USB-C port, I think, and the screen's bigger. That's really all we learned about it. So I don't really know.
00:46:01
Speaker
like One thing that when they were saying that I was talking with some people about when they were talking about like some games on our backup hat is I was like, maybe they won't have the HD rumble that the switch had. Like in one I remember it was a one, two, three switch or whatever that game was called. There was a game where you had to like use the Joy-Con to see how many balls were in like the box you're holding. And the HD was so good that you it felt like there were like marbles inside your controller. So I was like, I wonder if that's going to be what they do with the controller if they're go be like, nah no, no one
00:46:32
Speaker
Utilized it. There's no point in doing that again. So I'm I'm not sure but um, I just really want yeah, I just want to see how games are gonna perform and the release date so it's really not because I Expected when we started hearing rumors about the switch to I expected to to basically just be a more powerful switch I didn't expect it to be like oh and it folds open and there's three screens like I didn't expect anything like that. So I I my expectations were pretty low. I was expecting basically like an iPhone type upgrade where it's just going to be a step up. It looks different, but it's more powerful. So I really didn't have any other expectations. So I just want to know what them when the hell it's going out.
00:47:13
Speaker
Yes, sir. and All right. Any final thoughts on the switch to before we move on to the next topic and final topic? Just excited for that Nintendo Direct in April. All right. Yes, we will be patiently waiting for that and we will definitely be bringing you our reactions and news come April on the switch to so look forward to that.
Xbox Developer Direct Showcase Highlights
00:47:32
Speaker
All right. We're going to get into our final topic of discussion. Xbox, the number one third party publisher out there,
00:47:41
Speaker
had a developer direct and it was really good. They showed off five different games. ah First of all, high level thoughts. What were your thoughts of the show, Hodge? Did you like it? Did they nail it? What do you think?
00:47:54
Speaker
um i won't lie i was actually a little disappointed in this one it wasn't bad but it just didn't meet my expectations because the last two were so good like everything there i mean i i don't care about visions of man it's not a series i've ever played but the fact that they were able to have squaring x show up just randomly at one of their showcases was a really big deal and the fact that both of them had good mystery releases like high five rush day of the care. This new game is out. It's amazing. Go play it. And then the mystery game of Square Enix showing up. So I was expecting something like that. Instead, we got what we'll talk about a Ninja Gaiden remake that came out day of. I'm like, I don't care. I'm sorry. I don't care.
00:48:35
Speaker
I only have, we'll get to it, but only two of these five games I really have any interest in. So it's more of a personal thing of they didn't do a bad job. It's just my personal taste. It didn't match what happened the last two directs. so But overall, it's a good show. they What they do is really cool. I'm happy that every year we get one of these. But yeah, this is just the weakest of them for me. But it's ah' definitely not to say it was bad. It's just not my thing. and Yes. Yes. What about you, Sean? High level thoughts of the showcase? How'd they do?
00:49:08
Speaker
I think I'm a little bit hotter on it than Hodge. I think it was okay. um I like Hodge. I didn't like the games that were the the mystery game that was revealed in the the fifth game too. i'm not a big you know I've never played a Ninja Gaiden game and I'm not a fan of the series. I think it was you know the shadow drop of like a remake or a rema item you know like a remake of the other game. Cool, I'm happy for the fans of Ninja Gaiden. As far as the other games,
00:49:35
Speaker
I would say two of them I'm really excited for. One of them, the now that we've seen a little bit more of it, I'm actually a little bit less on it. All right. I think I know what you're talking about. We'll get into it though.
00:49:48
Speaker
um All right. Yeah, my thoughts are similar. I thought it was good. um I don't think it was as good as the previous two, but it was still very good. um I think all five games look very good in their own right. They're all coming to Game Pass, obviously. They're all slated for this year, which is cool. So we'll be able to actually play. If interested, we'll be able to play them soon. um I think they did exactly what they needed to. it's I like this format, how they actually get to see and hear from the devs. um The passion, you get to look inside the studios. That was pretty cool.
00:50:18
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so that was it. High level thoughts. Let's go ahead and break it down game by game now, um, in the order that they were presented. So first of all, they came out with the surprise game. And as I predicted as midnight predicted in the spank bank, they came out and they dropped a banger persona six was revealed. No, I was wrong about that. I was a little bit off, um, in this bank, just a little bit in the spank bank and in the happy friends server, I was kind of, uh,
00:50:47
Speaker
saying that they were going to drop Persona 6 and that that didn't happen, but we'll just act like I never said that. So ah Ninja Gaiden 4 did happen. Ninja Gaiden 4 from Team Ninja, a collaboration with Platinum Games, which I thought that they were dead, but I guess they're not. I know Kamiya or whatever left, um but apparently they're still doing their thing, so they're working on Ninja Gaiden 4. I guess I'll start this one off because I've been going last a lot. um I thought this looked pretty cool. um I've never played a Ninja Gaiden game before, and ah not really. I played like ah Ninja Gaiden 3 on the Wii U briefly, just because I needed something to play on the Wii U.
00:51:26
Speaker
Um, but I never got deeper cared, but I thought it looked pretty cool. The graphics look great. It's very visceral, very violent and bloody. You're like dismembering and cutting up people. That's cool. Um, the combat looked kind of souls ish in parts, which I think is interesting, like souls light. Maybe, um, I think this is something that maybe I will check out. Um,
00:51:48
Speaker
We'll have to see. I was surprised. This I was disappointed and um that it wasn't persona, but I'm like Ninja Gaiden for really damn. But it doesn't look bad. What do you guys think? Let's go to Sean. Thoughts on this. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not a fan of these games. They don't really interest me. I think everyone was like, oh, my gosh, the combat, the combat, the combat. I'm like, this is classic platinum combat. You can play any other platinum game and get this comic. Go play Bayonetta three. You'll get this combat. You'll play one of the older Bayonetta games. Go play near. You're going to get the combat near.
00:52:17
Speaker
Um... But I'm happy for those Ninja Gaiden fans because I know many, many people were very hyped for this. I heard the story is kind of like crazy. The Ninja Gaiden story is really like just like all over the place. And that is kind of like a turnoff for me. But I know you get to play as like a new protagonist in this game, I think something like that. And I think that's kind of like a almost like a like a soft reboot of the series. So maybe, you know, maybe it could draw me in. if We'll see how it does. I'm sure it's going to get great reviews. I'm sure the people who really love Ninja Gaiden are going to love it.
00:52:49
Speaker
And yeah, so happy for them. Happy for those who like it. A little disappointed. I was banging on. I was banking on a new tales of game, one of those tales of games, not trails, but tales. I was really hoping for that because we're due for one of those. But, hey, you know, happy, happy for the Ninja Gaiden fans. Sonic details. You just got tales, tales of F or whatever remake or whatever it was called. That's not enough on like, no, I was hoping for like a new brand new town real one. Yeah, I got you. yeah I got you.
00:53:19
Speaker
That actually is one of my least favorite Tales games, by the way. What is it called? It's not Tales of F, is it? What is it? It's, you know, it's like Tales of, I think what they call the remake. Okay. Well, you look that up and while you're looking that up, let's go to Hodge. Yeah, Tales of Grace is F. Tales of Grace is F. Grace is, there you go. I can't stand that game. Yeah, you heard it here first. Sean says, fuck that game. No, I'm just kidding. Oh. Hodge, what were your thoughts on Ninja Guide Enforcer?
00:53:45
Speaker
Yeah, I thought I thought the gameplay looked cool. It reminded me of like old school like OG God of War kind of combat. It was very PS2, PS3 action game. So I thought I thought it looks fun. But like I said, it was really more of expectations thing of that just.
00:54:04
Speaker
I was expecting ah ah you know fireworks and someone just kind of farted loudly. so i and just it just It doesn't do anything for me. like The fact that all of these games are on Game Pass might mean I might play all five at some point. but I also, I forgot when people were playing the, weird ah some people were talking on Discord about how they're hopping into the two remake, which we'll get to next. And they were saying, I forgot how hard these games are. And that made me remind remember that I've never played them because of that reason that it was basically Souls before Souls existed. And I don't care to play a game that I'm gonna get my ass kicked all the time. so
00:54:44
Speaker
i who knows I might hop into four just to try especially since it's a new one and but every game has a journalism mode now I might hop into it for that but ah just to try it but yeah I really i I don't care about this series and it does nothing for me and I'm happy for Astro and Sensei and the guys who were ah you know, super happy for it or excited for it. But this, yeah, it does nothing for me. Maybe I'll play it one day just to try it. But probably not. I don't know. We'll see. I don't know. OK. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. um Next, this will just go real quick on this because it's super adjacent and we probably won't have too much more to add. But they did announce Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. This is a ah brand new remake and Unreal Engine 5. So ground up remake, I suppose. It looked pretty good, graphically.
00:55:30
Speaker
um is now available right now. Shadow dropped. You can play it today on Game Pass and other platforms. Probably you can buy it. So check that out if you want. PS5. PS5. There you go. So check that out if you're interested. Do we have any thoughts on this? It's very similar. Yeah, I think it's pretty funny. The physical version is only available on PlayStation. I think it's hilarious. There's no. dig that Well, there's no physical on Xbox. That's funny. No, Xbox doesn't do physical anymore.
00:55:59
Speaker
Well, they're probably like they'll just play it on Game Pass. Let's be honest. We'll save we'll save the money on the on the case for the digit for the code for that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, did Xbox close their like physical department or whatever? Like the the department that did physical? I thought they. Oh, yeah. I think they did close. All know is it pisses off Claire so much. And yeah, she's not she's a physical Chad, huh?
00:56:25
Speaker
Yeah, she is. okay Well, Xbox is not the home for physical. That's for sure. They don't they do not give a fuck. no All right, so that's Ninja Gaiden. Go out and play it, guys, if you want. It's available right now, and it looks cool. So let us know what you think if you're playing it, if it's any good. Moving on, the next game that they announced was from, what's the name of the Sooty? Compulsion, right? Compulsion South of Midnight. We got to see more of that, and it was looking pretty good. ah Hodge, let's start with you this time. We're mixing it up a bit. What were your thoughts for South of Midnight, sir?
00:57:00
Speaker
I am... Alright, well, I am... First I'm gonna say I'm stoked for this game. I wanna play this game so fucking badly. It looks awesome. As I've said before, We Happy Few just fell short of the finish line. I thought it was a very good game that could have been, like, Bioshock level great. ah If they just had a little more time and money, probably. ah It was a very cool game that just didn't meet what I thought it would be. ah But this game looks awesome.
00:57:27
Speaker
I love, so as someone who is obsessed with stop motion animation type movies, like I love Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, Para Norman. I love, I love, love, love movies like that. And so having that in a gameplay, and I actually, I listened to a little chunk of the episode we did with Cog last year, where we talked about the showcase, where they showed off South at midnight, and I said it was one of my most anticipated. And I have to reiterate it here, if for those who had forgotten about it,
00:57:55
Speaker
for being stop motion, it still looks so fluid. Like it doesn't look choppy, despite it being a stop motion look, it looks so, so cool. ah The reason why I was kind of freaking out when you first called on me was because the only thing I don't like about these dev directs, I'm happy that obviously the developers get to talk and you know, explain their love for the game.
00:58:16
Speaker
some of them go on a little too long and this one I was like I'm already excited for this game I don't need to hear everyone talk about the bayou and all like I don't I don't need this it needs to shorten a little bit so that's really the only why I was a little iffy at the start there but this game looks awesome I hope it's awesome it looks so fun I am so excited for it and it's coming out in April so I am very excited to be playing this soon Yeah. Was it April 8th? I think. was that really something that yeah Yeah. I will agree with you on the pacing on here. I do feel like almost all of these games went on a little bit long. I think they gave like 15 minutes to each game or something, which was a little bit more than what I needed. I could have done with about six to eight minutes, but at the same time, it's cool. I do love seeing and hearing from the devs and you can, you can feel the passion. ah Sean, talk to us about south of midnight, sir.
00:59:09
Speaker
What do you think? I'm freaking hyped for this game. This is my game of the show. i yeah This game has completely sold me. I think the $40 price point is perfect for a game like this, especially in today's era when people look at a game like this and they're like, I'm not paying $70 for that. Stop motion, junk.
00:59:25
Speaker
First of all, that stop motion is gonna be freaking awesome. i I totally agree with you. I think it looks so smooth It's like so smooth the transitions are awesome. I think the whole premise of the story is so cool I had like I knew it was that it took place in like the southern, you know, gothic universe But like the idea that like all sudden this is dangerous hurricane and also diseases like folklore creatures coming up out of here It's it sounds like an anime to be honest like you become a weaver and you're trying to like put things back together It's i'm really Go on. I was gonna say it's almost like Norse mythology, but set in Louisiana Like it's really cool. Like the ethnic beasts are so cool. Yeah Yeah, I I like the whole idea of her having a weave together things to like fix things I'm excited to learn more about they seem to um hint at like she has like a kind of a crazy troubled past and I'm kind of Looking forward to like reviewing that because it's something with her there's something with her family history I think that's also gonna be like part of the story. So I'm really excited for that
01:00:24
Speaker
I think that the um the the main character, Hazel, i think that I know they had their voice actor on there. Voice actress, voice actor, whatever you want to call it. um I'm interested in her character. I think she could become one of the more like lovable characters of this year, depending on how the story works out. But again, I think that $40 price point's awesome. I'll be there day one for this game. I'm gonna play it on the Xbox. Day one, I'm gonna buy it. Yep, Sean's buying an Xbox game. Day one, you heard it at first. South of Midnight. looks like Oh, and a combat that looks awesome.
01:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if I said this or not, but this is the only game there that they didn't have PS5 listed as the consoles. It's not coming out. of for I'm assuming it's it will come out later, but it's not doing PS5. Yeah, I was just surprised because the other four like they've basically thrown in the towel like we were talking about when me and Midnight did that episode about what games just play on PlayStation when they inevitably go over there.
01:01:18
Speaker
And they've pretty much like usually any showcase, no matter if a game was coming to every system, they would only list their console. But now they're like, nah, it's also PS5. We're also throwing it there. It's yeah. But but South Midnight, it's an Xbox exclusive for now, which is kind of cool, actually. But yeah.
01:01:37
Speaker
Yeah. um So yeah, my thoughts are very similar. I thought it looked awesome. I love the stop motion graphics. It's very unique. I haven't seen hardly any games do something like that. So I like it when devs and artists kind of take a unique ah angle.
01:01:53
Speaker
at the design. I think that's cool. um It's refreshing. So I will be there as well. um i don't i I don't know if I'll say day one because I'm always drowning in a backlog that I'm trying to catch up, but I will absolutely be playing it. And if we have interest in doing a spoiler cast, then I'll probably rush it so that I can join. but um This game, I think it looks awesome. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I think everybody out there, if this is something that looked interested to you, check it out and play it. um Support these smaller devs. Compulsion is a smaller team, I think. um And they're doing unique stuff. both ah Both of the games that I know them for, We Happy Few and this are very unique, very artistic, and very cool. And I think we got to support teams like that. So I'll be checking it out. I think it looks awesome. And I'll just leave it at that.
01:02:38
Speaker
um Moving on, shall we? The next game.
Anticipation and Concerns for Upcoming Games
01:02:42
Speaker
This one is my game of the show. Probably Sean's too, if I had to guess. Claire. of spin Oh, you did say south of midnight. I already forgot. Okay. Well, his number two game, I bet. Claire obscure expedition 33. Um, so this was from sandfall interactive, I think. Um, my dumbass, when I was sitting here watching, um, this year, I saw sandfall interactive and I couldn't picture which game this was for. I was like, is this a dune game? And then I was like, wait, is this vampire the masquerade? And then I, and then immediately when I saw like, uh, like,
01:03:15
Speaker
the whole French stuff. I was like, Oh, it's Claire obscure. Nevermind. I'm stupid. um But yeah, no, this game looks frickin awesome, dude. I cannot believe this game is being made by a team that was only like seven, at least in the in the dev direct. It looked like there's only like seven of them. It looks like a super small team. They don't even really have a studio. They said welcome to our manner like they're, they're just developing it in someone's house.
01:03:36
Speaker
um Dude, I can't believe how much they're pushing the graphics. They have a huge open world. They revealed. um I don't know how such a small team is doing this, but it looks awesome. The turn based combat. It looks amazing with real time entries and stuff. Kind of all ah ah the Mario RPGs, right? You got to hit the buttons all the time, kind of like Yakuza, like a dragon. You know, you had to hit the buttons in order to do extra damage and to block and stuff. So that was cool and see if stars.
01:04:04
Speaker
See if stars. Yeah, yeah, it did. Yeah, it bounced around that boomerang and stuff. um Yeah, I think it looks freaking sweet. um The characters look awesome. The two chicks are hot. Shout out to that. um You know, always, always down for some hot chicks in the video. but there's They're their friends, so they have pit hair, though. So yeah, I mean, it is unfortunate that they're French. We don't really we don't really like the French that much, but we will play their game nonetheless. um Who wants to start here? Sean, what were your thoughts on Claire obscure?
01:04:35
Speaker
um a lot more down on this game that i've seen a little bit what wow yeah i thought your was on eight nope i think that the creature design and the enemy design looks so odd i thought that giant balloon-like creature that you like I thought that was so weird What I'm really I'm really worried about this game I'm shocked it's coming up so soon, and it's I'm they're a lot more down on only pressing it at $50 I think to me I know this game. I I thought you were talking about the next just said game. that's a great for
01:05:06
Speaker
um South of Midnight at $40, I'm a little scared for this game. I think it might be a sign that this has been rushed. They're trying to get this out because they need to get it out. um Like you said, they're a small studio. They only have 30 people. I don't I don't like the world design. I think it just looks weird. I didn't like the I don't like the the characters don't appeal to me. I'm.
01:05:29
Speaker
i'm I'm upset because I was so hyped for this game when they first showed it. It gave me that Final Fantasy and Persona vibes, but now I'm like, oh, I don't know. So I don't i don't know. i justs don't like I think the enemy design is so weird looking. They're trying to be like, it it looks gorgeous, the game, but it's you wouldn't think those kind of creatures would be in a game like that.
01:05:56
Speaker
what do you mean a game like that. It's a fictional world where a Pinterest is killing off everybody. I know, but look at the creature look at the creature that the creature designed to me does not fit the graphical style they're doing. Hold on. Let me look at some screenshots. I didn't feel this way at all. I thought it looked awesome. I thought the creatures actually looked pretty cool. I'm looking at a screenshot. Now there's like a ah big dude with like red beard and he's got like a big eye or something in his stomach. I think he looks cool, dude. I don't I don't know. I don't I respect your opinion for sure. You might be right. It is a small team. I hope you're wrong, though. I hope it's going to be good. But I actually got more excited personally from watching this um like that big dude that you can kind of travel with was kind of giving me like my neighbor Totoro vibes kind of like I thought it was cool. Like a giant balloon like creature. I don't like it. I don't think that's a bad thing. I hope you're wrong, Sean. I think this is going to be a good game. i I hope I'm wrong, too. I hope I'm wrong, too.
01:06:51
Speaker
um Hodge, what were your thoughts? I have a lot to say about this one. um So, South of Midnight is the game I'm most excited for from this show. um I'm stoked for this game, but this game is actually my game of show because I went from thinking like, eh, it looks okay, to actually being hyped for this game. It looks so cool. Honestly, the open world reminded me of Rebirth, ah if I'm being honest. like That's what it was giving me, that kind of vibe of. but
01:07:22
Speaker
Which what Sean is saying, I'm actually going to agree with as well, because with it being a small team, I could totally see this like. that we've had many games where they look good, and they come out busted as hell, everything's glitchy, like and then it gets a 50 on Metacritic, everyone forgets about it, and even though they fix it, everyone's moved on. I could easily see that being what happens with this game, but from just going off of what we saw, this game looks incredible. I think it looks so cool, and I am not, as you know, I'm not a turn-based
01:07:55
Speaker
gameplay person. I've never played Persona, which a lot of people are saying the menus kind of look Persona-ish. They do look very Persona-ish. Yeah, like I've never given a shit about any of that, but this game has me super hyped. And the story sounds really cool. Like a number shows up and if you're that age, you're gone. Like it's a really cool concept. The only thing that actually I did not like about the show showing of this was when the lady had to come on screen and be like,
01:08:24
Speaker
ah Good is not good and bad is not bad. Everyone has gray moral. I'm like, i oh my God, you're doing this again, the whole thing. Oh, the bad guy's not actually that bad. And oh, the good guy's not actually that good. I get it. People aren't perfect or completely evil. I get it. But can't we just have games where the good guys are the good guys and the bad guys are the bad guys. I don't need this moral relativism bullshit of telling me that not everyone is perfect. I get it.
01:08:52
Speaker
Just tell me a good story. You don't need to tell me that no one is perfect. But other than that, this game looks fucking awesome. so So I'm excited for it. And it's also is this one also April, right? It's going to be April 24th,
01:09:06
Speaker
April. Yeah. So this it's going to be a stacked April. I'm very excited for April. So but yeah, I thought this game looked awesome. Like I said, south of me, nice one. I'm most excited for. But I went from me to pretty excited with this one. So I'm I'm I'm pumped for this game.
01:09:20
Speaker
I am hope it's like I said, I hope I'm wrong. I know. Yeah. i I want to be excited for this game. Yeah. I know you're not sitting here like this game is going to suck. And if it's good, I'm going to be I'm going to feel bad for being wrong. No, this everyone wants this game to be good. And I really hope it is. i But like you said, when you after you said that you did make me think like, oh, yeah, there's been a lot of games that have come that come out that look awesome. And then they come out busted or just janky and not very good. And I could see that with this. But I yeah, I hope it's not the case. I hope it's more of a, instead of a Flintlock, Siege of Dawn, I hope it's more of like a Eliza P, where people are kind of concerned, but then it comes out and everyone loves it. I hope, I hope that's where we are with it. But we'll see. Yeah.
01:10:00
Speaker
OK, I'll just give my thoughts here because I didn't really give my thoughts too much yet. um I think it looks awesome. This is my game of the show. um I think it looks great. My only red flag to this is that it is a small team when they're talking about doing a huge open world that does make me think that they might overextend themselves, maybe over promise and under deliver, which I think is what Sean is hinting at slightly. um I did look at images of the monsters because I couldn't remember them, and I think they look great. I don't really have an issue with this.
01:10:29
Speaker
um As to where they come from I don't know maybe story why she's a painters, right? So maybe she paints these monsters to defend her and you have to beat them. That's possible ah We'll see though. I think it looks really cool. And I'm hopeful that they deliver a great game um They are I didn't notice that all these games are kind of coming in a rapid succession April and May is getting packed boys. We're gonna be busy it sounds like because we got south of midnight April 8th or whatever. And then this was like April 26. And then the next game was May, right? um Early May for Doom. Yeah. And then you're going to have GTA 6 May 15th. It's going to be crazy. There you go. Yeah, it's going to be crazy. um But yeah, so that was Claire, Obscure, Expedition 33. Our takes are slightly varied on this. We all hope it's going to be good. I think it's going to be good. We'll see. um Any final thoughts on that before we move on, boys? No.
01:11:24
Speaker
No? OK. Sean, are you going to pick that up day one? Or are you waiting on reviews? Just curious. I'm going to wait. I'm definitely waiting on this. Definitely waiting on this. Smart. Smart. Never a bad idea to wait and see the reviews. um All right. And that moves on to the final game that they showed. This was my pick in the fantasy draft. I'm expecting the same game to carry me to greatness here. um Doom, The Dark Ages from id was shown off. This is a highly anticipated game.
01:11:51
Speaker
One of the most highly anticipated games that Xbox have has has maybe just a little bit shy of like fable and stuff, but it's up there. um What did you guys think of what we saw of Doom the Dark Ages? And we're going to start this time with Hodge.
Personal Game Preferences and Series Critiques
01:12:05
Speaker
Go ahead, sir.
01:12:07
Speaker
Um, Doom is a series that I understand plays really well and people love, but I've never fucking given a shit about Doom. I don't care about gore porn. I don't, I don't need to chunk demons to feel good about myself. I don't know. Like I just don't care about Doom. I'm happy that people are excited for this game. It looks cool. Like don't get me wrong. The gameplay looks, the graphics look awesome. The gameplay, like I said,
01:12:34
Speaker
the flu the fluidity of Doom, it looks like they play amazingly. I have no issue with that, but it's just this heavy metal music while you're just chunking up people. it's just It just seems like a game that would be designed by a a school shooter with a manifesto. i just It doesn't i didn it just I don't care for Doom. i I'm sorry if that's mean. I don't care. I just don't like Doom. I've never cared about this stupid fucking series. I never will. And I hope people enjoy it, but I don't care about this game. So okay that's what I have to say about it. i hope I hope most of the reviewers don't share your sentiments because I need high scores for the face. Oh, no, it's going to review amazingly. i Me personally don't give a fuck about Doom.
01:13:20
Speaker
um okay let me go i'll give my thoughts here because we're mixing it up um so doom the dark ages i was super excited about this not from a i want to actually play it perspective because i am like hodge i don't really care that much about doom but i'm super excited about this because i want it to be great for fantasy purposes and i have to say um shawn this was the game for me that i was a little bit down on after seeing it Because I feel like they're moving away from what made Doom 2016 and Eternal so great by slowing it down and simplifying it. This game, they really emphasize multiple times that you're going to stand and fight. um And the gameplay that they showed looked a lot slower paced, like you're just kind of like standing there shooting, throwing your shield and stuff.
01:14:04
Speaker
whereas previous dooms was all about like i didn't play them but from what i've heard and seen it seems to be all about like heavy metal music while you're moving around really fast and fucking up demons and blowing them up and stuff and there's like this frenetic kinetic gameplay experience and this doesn't it seems like a different flow a different experience yeah the metal is still there um and it looked cool and they did reveal that there's difficulty and part of the difficulty is you can turn up the speed so if you are a speed freak you could turn it up um but just out of the box it seems like a slower more methodical tanky they even related it to a tank um you know experience and i just hope that it's still
01:14:43
Speaker
I hope it still hits for Doom fans, and I hope it reviews well, selfishly, because I got to win this fantasy, baby. um But yeah, I'm a little bit down on this slightly from what I saw. I think it looks sweet, though. Maybe I'll play it one day, but I'm not a huge Doom guy, like Hodge said. Mr. Mason, what did you think about Doom the Dark Ages? What were your thoughts?
01:15:04
Speaker
I think this looks just much much more like Doom. I really like Doom 2016. I like Doom Eternal. I did notice that yes, they are slowing it down. They're focusing more on like the melee combat. It's more of like a standstill combat. And I think that might have a lot to do with like they're setting it in a medieval setting. They're trying to go back like, oh, obviously there's still gonna be crazy guns. This is Doom. There's gonna be crazy guns, gonna be crazy blood everywhere. There's gonna be bullets flying everywhere. But I think they're trying to emphasize hey this is a medieval setting this is a little bit different we want to try something new and ah Doom 2016 was much more run and gun where Doom Eternal was run and gun but they introduced some um other concepts that slowed it down like um
01:15:45
Speaker
a lot of the um weapons you could jump and when you jumped it changed like how you shot and how you um like the the weapon output that you had like the the way you shot um stuff like that the guns kind of changed when you jumped um that kind of slowed you down a little bit I think that they're just trying to introduce something new. I mean Doom's such an old franchise that you can only have so much. I am excited for this game. it is i Part of me is really excited because I was late to Doom. I um only played 2016 in internal. They're some of Claire's favorite games and she really wanted me to play them so I did play them for her and I really liked it and she's really hyped for this game as well. um I'm excited. I probably will get this day one.
01:16:30
Speaker
Okay. You gonna buy this one too? Or game pass? um We don't have game pass in my house. Okay. your You're supporting the guys. I like it. And it's on PS5, so. Oh, it's coming to PlayStation too, right? Is it day and date or did they announce one? Yeah, it's day and date, yeah. I'll buy it on PS5, Claire will probably buy it on...
01:16:45
Speaker
Well, it depends. she She's kind of anti Xbox right now with the known through the physical stuff. so She might buy it on PC, which is funny because I always get man I'm like, which there's no physical on PC. No, I know. And I said it's not the point if I'm buying if I'm going to play on a home console, I want to play I want my physical disc. Like, all right, whatever. Understand. Man, everyone's the ditch in Xbox for the PC, it seems, because I might do the same eventually. but She's been she's been PC for a while, but like she still likes like she'll put she will not play Halo on PC.
01:17:16
Speaker
Like that's a nice people don't know it's a console game Okay, all right any any more final thoughts about doom.
Final Thoughts and Episode Wrap-up
01:17:24
Speaker
um I think we all got our piece there No, we're good. Okay. So that was the Xbox developer direct and that is games over plastic episode number 26. I think we've covered just about all we wanted to say here. This is a great episode. Um, please clap everybody. We haven't done that in a while. Please clap episode 26 is in the books. We love and appreciate you guys. Let's go ahead and go around the circle and give our final thoughts here. Um, Hodge final thoughts for GOP 26, sir. No, I wasn't going to hate me after this episode.
01:17:59
Speaker
like, fuck doom. It's for school students. Yeah. But no, I'm ah ah happy we got to that we found time to do this episode because, yeah, I'm a busy mom. Actually, I found out literally as we were about to start recording, my cousin texted me saying that, remember, there's a concert tonight, so I'm actually going to leave here to a concert. I completely forgot what's happening. What are guy named Alex Williams. He's like a country rock guy. He's really good. OK.
01:18:27
Speaker
okay All right. um Awesome. Final thoughts, Sean Mason. What you got? Great episode. I really like talking video games with you guys. Like I said, South of Midnight is going to rule. Hopefully, Claire obscure is going to be great. Hopefully, hopefully I'm wrong, which I don't say often, but hopefully I am. Doom is going to be great. I know it is. Yeah. Ninja Gaiden, happy for you fans. And Switch 2 is going to rock. Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 9, not coming out this year.
01:18:57
Speaker
be quiet. I think i need it. You want me to even have a chance to be competitive? I need it because I reached with some of my picks. Some of my picks were not the best. I mean, I got trails in the trails. Pick three was was a super reach. No, you could have got that in like those. I could have got that like my eighth pick probably. um I hope it's good though. I hope so. um me Yeah, so shout out to everybody gamers out there. Can't wait for switch to. I'm super excited um Xbox. You did a great job. I'm probably going to play. um I'm going to try Ninja Gaiden. I'm going to play South of midnight. I'm going to play clear obscure and I may play Doom. So yeah, but this has been games over plastic episode 26. Thank you guys so much for your love and support. Leave us comments, leave us likes, subscribe. We appreciate you. We're going to go ahead and get up out of here.
01:19:50
Speaker
Goodbye, everybody. Bye. What do you do for fun around here? Play checkers or something?